There may be some products added to a plan that requires a new quantity to be added each month, usually some type of usage for the previous month. Stax Bill provides you with this ability via Automatic Quantity Reset functionality.
How does it work?
If you have a product within a plan, where the quantity for that product changes on a monthly basis based on the actual usage by the customer, the Automatic Quantity Reset functionality will allow you to charge for the current usage once charged, revert to a quantity of 0. Used in conjunction with the Charge Timing Options, it provides you total control over when an item is charged and reset.
How to configure it?
- Add the Product to the Plan.
- Once in Edit Plan Product, enter the Product Code, Product Name and Product Description.
- Once you reach the Quantity Management Settings section, choose the appropriate options.
- At the Automatic Quantity Reset section, you have several choices:
- Never - would never automatically reset the quantity. This would be the normal setting for most items with quantities.
- At the start of the period - would reset the current quantity back to zero at the start of the period.
- At end of period - would reset the current quantity back to zero at the end of the period.
Note: Tracked Items Products (i.e. those with Track Unique Quantities checked on) can only reset at the end of the period.
Using Charge Timing Options with Automatic Quantity Reset
The field you want to focus on when setting this up is: When Quantity is Changed. You can select the following options.
- Charge Immediately - would charge immediately for any changes to quantity made mid-period. This would create an invoice and collect the payment if auto collect is turned on.
- Do Not Charge - the change in quantity does not generate a charge in the current period. The total quantity will be charged in the next billing period.
- Charge at end of period - allows quantity to be added mid-period without being charged immediately. The quantity listed at the end of the period is what would be included on the invoice date for that billing period.
Earning Settings
You can also specify the way the product earns (see Managing Earnings). You can choose whether to earn the amount at the beginning of the period (i.e. at the beginning of the day) or at the end of the period (end of the day). This can help alleviate earnings issues, for example, at the end of a month, when the next charge is generated before the last day's earnage has completed. Set your earnings to "start of period" to ensure that the last day's earnings are completed before the next period's charges are generated.
Billing Examples
Usage/Quantity Charges - Bill in Arrears
Example - Your customer signs up for new recurring service on the first day of June. Upon activation, the system immediately charges the monthly subscription fee. On the first day of July, the customer will receive a bill for July’s monthly subscription fee plus any usage fees from June. In this instance, the usage could be either a recurring item or one-time charge item and would be configured as follows:
Automatic Quantity Reset = At end of period
Charge Timing Options - When Quantity is Changed = Charge at end of period
Usage/Quantity Charges - Bill As You Go
Example - Your monthly subscriptions includes a recurring per user fee. If the customer adds additional users mid month (between billing periods), the customer is charged immediately for each user added (this may be a prorated amount if proration is configured) during the period. On the next billing date, the customer would be charged for the total number of users for the current period. In this case, you do not want to reset the counter. This product would be configured as follows:
Automatic Quantity Reset = Never
Charge Timing Options - When Quantity is Changed = Charge immediately
Example - Your monthly plan contains a product with tiered pricing, that provides the customer with 100 minutes free each month and $.10 per minute over that. Each month the counter is reset to 0 and the customer starts over. Each time a customer uses a minute, your system updates Stax Bill. Once the customer has reached their limit of free minutes, for each additional minute over that, they would charged $.10 per minute, which can be charged immediately or at the end of the period. This product would be configured as follows:
Automatic Quantity Reset = At end of period
Charge Timing Options - When Quantity is Changed = Charge immediately or Charge at end of period